A federal judge scheduled E. Jean Carroll’s second defamation trial against former President Donald Trump for January 2024, just days before Republican primary voters will begin the presidential nomination process.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan set Carroll’s civil trial against Trump for January 15, 2024, in a brief scheduling order.
JUST IN: Judge Kaplan has set E. Jean Carroll’s next civil trial against Trump for Jan. 15, 2024, unless it’s resolved before then. pic.twitter.com/zMFJA1RAqI
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) June 15, 2023
The scheduling comes days after Kaplan allowed Carroll to amend her second defamation lawsuit against Trump to seek up to $10 million in damages.
Last month, a nine-member jury found Trump liable for sexual battery and defaming Carroll and granted her an award of $5 million in damages. The jury awarded Carroll $2 million in damages for the sexual battery claim and $3 million for defamation.
Carroll’s second lawsuit stems from comments Trump made in 2019 regarding her accusations of rape. Kaplan allowed Carroll to amend her lawsuit to include Trump’s comments at a recent CNN town hall, where he insisted he had “no idea who this woman is” and that her allegations are a “fake” and a “made-up story.”
Watch: E. Jean Carroll Attorney Kaplan: We Are Exploring Options to Sue Trump Again for CNN Town Hall Comments
“We maintain that she should not be permitted to retroactively change her legal theory, at the eleventh hour, to avoid the consequences of an adverse finding against her,” Trump attorney Alina Habba said in a statement after Kaplan allowed the lawsuit to be amended.
Notably, Carroll’s defamation trial is set to start days before Iowa’s first-in-the-nation Republican primary caucus on January 22, 2024. A January trial date would “undoubtedly affect the race for the Republican nomination, both by distracting the current frontrunner, and by tarnishing him relative to other candidates in the race,” as Breitbart News’s Joel Pollak explained.
With Carroll’s January trial scheduled, Trump faces at least three trials within the next 12 months. New York Attorney General Letitia James scheduled her office’s civil lawsuit for fraud against Trump and his company for October. Then, Trump faces a criminal trial in March 2024, weeks after the GOP primary’s “Super Tuesday,” stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into Trump’s alleged falsification of business records.
Trump schedule of legal proceedings, as of now:
-July-August: Likely Fulton indictment
-Oct: NY State civil trial against Trump Org.
-January: E. Jean Carroll trial
-March: Manhattan criminal trial
-TBD: Documents criminal trial, likely Fulton County criminal proceedings— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) June 15, 2023
Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation resulted in federal criminal charges against Trump this week, but no trial date has been set in that case thus far.
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter.
